Design Studio
Where Theory Meets Practice
Our Design Studio is a dynamic, innovative space where theory meets practice in the pursuit of safer civic spaces. Each month, we host Design Studios that serve as experimental workshops for leaders, thinkers, and changemakers from various sectors.
What Happens in a Session
In these engaging sessions, participants come together to:
- Explore approaches to effective leadership in high-tension environments.
- Develop and refine essential competencies for maintaining nonviolent civic spaces.
- Collaborate on creative solutions to real-world challenges facing communities.
- Test and iterate on strategies for lowering the temperature in various scenarios.
Our Design Studios are structured to be both educational and highly interactive. We employ a range of methodologies to facilitate discussions and prototyping sessions. This hands-on approach allows participants to not only learn new concepts but also practice applying them in a safe, supportive environment.
Who Can Participate
We welcome a diverse array of partners to our Design Studio sessions, including:
- Community leaders and local government officials.
- Representatives from nonprofit and advocacy organizations.
- Media professionals and communication experts.
- Researchers in fields related to democracy, conflict resolution and social psychology.
- Business leaders interested in promoting civic responsibility.
By bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and sectors, we create a rich, multidisciplinary environment that fosters innovation and cross-pollination of ideas.
Sign up for our upcoming sessions
October's Design Studio Session
Proactive scenario planning for election day – the importance of norm setting.
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, 1-2:30 p.m. ET (10-11:30 a.m. PT)
Elections can be contentious times and lead to confrontations, whether over the dinner table or in public. It’s important that people express their views in safe, healthy, and peaceful ways. Just two months after the 2016 election, advocates gathered for the Women’s March in cities nationwide and needed safe, healthy spaces to protest peacefully amid counterprotests and law enforcement. As we approach the 2024 election, the New York Times recently reported that conservative activists are monitoring and filming voter registration sites, “drawing concern from canvassers about safety.” The weeks following the 2024 election are likely to be contentious as well.
Safe, healthy civic spaces are essential in our democracy—especially during an election. What will happen leading up to and after the 2024 election? Are you prepared?
There is work to do to ensure civic leaders are ready to speak out, have rituals in place, and have the words and communication activities ready. Your staff or the community members you serve deserve safety but may be vulnerable to harassment, violence, or doxxing.
Join Team Best-Case Scenario and special guests on Tuesday, October 22, from 1-2:30 p.m. ET, where we will lead participants through scenario planning. Using elements of Spitfire’s Smart Plan and what we know about evidence-based ways to prevent violence, we’ll walk you through the steps to prepare and prevent it so we can all participate in civic life safely.
November's Design Studio Session
Leader’s Space: Reacting to the election
Date: Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, 1-2:30 p.m. ET (10-11:30 a.m. PT)
We will host this space for a select group of one dozen influential leaders to engage in a candid, confidential conversation about the far-reaching implications of the election results on our social norms, civic fabric, and organizational strategies. This intimate roundtable discussion will delve into the immediate aftermath of the election, exploring how the outcomes might reshape public discourse, impact various communities, and influence policy direction. This session will include facilitators who have deep experience counseling leaders through tough conversations.
December's Design Studio Session
From Risk to Reward: Adopting the growing toolkit for shaping the norm of safe and sound civic spaces
Date: Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, 1-2:30 p.m. ET (10-11:30 a.m. PT)
During this conversation with communications directors, influencers, and chiefs of staff, we’ll bring together experts in the field for a brief showcase presentation of their tools and brainstorm real-world opportunities to deploy these in 2025. The goal of this session is to identify clear ideas for how to deploy these tools, including resiliency building and Backfire in 2025.